


Shine a Light into Dark Corners

by AstaianNymph



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Abusive Relationships, M/M, Non-Graphic Rape/Non-Con, Trans Character, Transphobia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-20
Updated: 2013-11-20
Packaged: 2018-01-02 03:10:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1051834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AstaianNymph/pseuds/AstaianNymph
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Avengers find out that one of their members is trans—and his partner is using that to keep him in an abusive relationship. Can they help him feel safe again?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Living in Memories

Clint finds himself living more and more in memories.

He remembers how they met. Every time they fight over something minor, always his own damn fault of course, Clint thinks back to the warm smile of a youngish man. He'd only been a boy at the time, only 17. Nick Fury had just rescued him from a life in the circus, offering him a job with a long-term contract, steady employment. Sure, the job would probably be dangerous, but his life was already dangerous, and he might as well get paid ridiculously well for doing something he loved. It's an odd thought that pops up, but Clint always remembers he had smaller muscles at the time, usually occuring while remembering the strain of holding his bow drawn for long periods of time as punishment for a poor performance. Something which would not happen while he was employed at SHIELD. Clint remembers a junior agent, Sawyer Foss, introducing him to some of the senior agents. Foss had been whispering as they approached. "This one you'll like; he's queer as a three-dollar bill." Clint looked at the glorious picture of perfect masculinity before him, smiling hopefully not too wide as Foss introduced them, "Phil, I'd like you to meet the new recruit, Clint Barton." They'd shaken hands, Clint got a business card, and he was off to meet quite a few more agents. Nonetheless, the smile Phil had given him had really raised his spirits about the people who were working here.

So this is what he remembers when he leaves a mess out and Phil reprimands him for it.

Clint lives in the memory of the first time they'd kissed. They'd still been running around in slightly different circles at SHIELD. But they had mutual friends, one of whom, Anna, had dragged everyone she knew to the bar. Phil had been singing karaoke all night. Clint hadn't joined in, still too self-conscious. He and Phil are sitting at the bar between songs. Phil leans over and takes an awkward but really breathtaking kiss from his lips. And Clint is strangely aroused.

When he forgets to pick something up from the store and Phil is reprimanding him, Clint remembers how Phil had called him the next morning to ask him on a date. Clint remembers how happy he was because he'd never been on one before. He remembers their first date, a small, local restaurant owned and operated by Phil's parents. Clint remembers how Phil was a perfect gentleman and didn't badger him to go up to his flat for a nightcap or sex. How Phil had been so incredibly patient with him. Hell, he'd waited three years until Clint was comfortable enough to give it a go. So he concentrates on making sure everything is perfect both in his life and in his work so that there will be nothing to criticise when Phil gets home.

But more and more, he can't do it right. He burns part of dinner while reminiscing about the phone call that led to them dating. Clint feels himself go red as Phil dresses him down when he smells the smoke, after making sure the kitchen is still intact. Clint hangs his head and listens. He knows he can do better. He just has to figure out how. He can do this. He knows he can.

They are silent for a minute.  
Phil breaks the silence, gathering Clint into his arms, "Hey now. We can work on this, right?"  
Clint nods, but even though he fights to hold onto his veneer of hypermasculinity, tears start to form. Phil continues, "Don't cry on me now. I'm just worried for you. I want you to be happy." Phil brushes the tears away and holds his chin up, "I love you, okay?"  
Clint nods again, "I know. I'm really trying and I know you're really patient with me." He takes a deep breath and before Phil can reprimand him for it, he adds, "I love you, too."  
.........  
Clint has so many terrible memories, but he clings to the good ones when he can. Phil is so nice to him all the time. As he's crying, he thinks back to their one-year anniversary. Phil had taken him out to a nice concert, then they'd gone back to Phil's place and had a few beers and made out a little bit. Clint could still remember the hot, hopsy breath as he leaned in to kiss Phil, greedily devouring his mouth. Somewhere in the back of his head, Clint knew he wanted more. So he pushed away, and Phil had the stupidest grin on his face. Clint just blushed. "Uh." He scratched the back of his head. His elders had always tried to teach him manners, but they'd taught nothing that would help him deal with this. "You've been really good about, well, the sex thing."

Phil just put him to ease, as usual, "I stand by that I'm not with you for sex. I will love you regardless." His hand extended gently to softly caress Clint's cheek.

"I know. But I gotta do this." Clint took a deep breath. "You know how I was in the circus."  
Phil nodded.  
"I'm not embarrassed, but, well, I never show anyone any of that stuff for a reason." He looks down. "I'd like to show you. I think you'll understand."  
Phil beams at him, "I'd love that."  
Clint allows himself one small sliver of hope.

Phil drives them to Clint's tiny apartment. He digs into the back of his closet, on the floor behind some shelves. It's nearly the most complicated acrobatic manoeuvre he's done this week. He uncovers a box of memories. It's an old shoebox. He recognises the brand as one that his mother used to wear when she was alive. He takes out the photos on top, the sparkling purple leotard which was the same colour as his current uniform. He hands the photos over to Phil and nods when Phil raises an eyebrow, as if asking whether Clint's sure he wants to share. Clint nods an affirmative.

He watches Phil go through the photos. He sees his eyes narrow in mild confusion as he looks through photos of him with long hair, tied up in a bun, a jaw not yet sharp enough to cut paper, long hairless legs accentuated by the leotard, the same one he's holding now. He sees the confusion begin to sort itself out as Phil looks at the person in the photos, sees their skinny but curvy hips and their mid-sized breasts. Finally, he breaks the silence."Those are me. The amazing Hawkeye, a big draw in the circus. Claire Barton, acrobat-archer extraordinaire." He knows he's tense right now, but he can't let himself loosen up.

Phil breaks into a smile. "Are you trying to tell me you're transgender?" he asks gently.  
Clint nods. He wonders if he'll have to make a run for it. He could probably take Coulson down long enough to jump out the window—  
Phil interrupts his thoughts, "Thank you for sharing that with me, Clint. I know how hard that must have been. This doesn't change the fact that I still want to have a relationship with this really great man I met." He opens his arms and Clint nestles into them, hugging and holding on as if his life depended on it.  
"Thank you. Thank you so much. You don't know how much that means to me." The only other person who had known about this part of him and still liked him was Director Fury.  
.........

It takes them another several months to work up to having sex for the first time. In the meantime, he and Coulson had been to Moscow, and had been made a more or less permanent team along with Natasha. Their personal relationship had also developed. They had talked for hours about what it meant to both of them that Clint was trans. Their bond came out stronger for it, in Clint's opinion. Phil had even offered to pay for any surgery that Clint wanted. Clint was ecstatic, and had top surgery within four months. He had been on quite a bit of medical leave after that. Completely worth it, in his opinion. He had barely gotten used to the feeling. Like there was no more weight that he was carrying around. The compression disappeared.

His new chest was the first time Phil had ever seen him undressed. It had been pretty much completely healed, and Phil gently ran his hands over it, both of them marvelling at the feel. It hadn't taken long after that for their relationship to get much more physical. The first time they had sex, Clint had felt magical, like the luckiest transman on Earth. Maybe even the luckiest man. He couldn't believe he had a partner willing to put up with his quirks.  
..........  
Clint tried to hold onto that good memory tonight as Phil bent him over his lap. Clint vowed he wouldn't cry. Phil had taken to spanking him lately when he misbehaved. The point was to improve how he had been behaving, to help him remember the important things. He didn't like being spanked. It always hurt so much after, and Phil was always interested in fucking him. But he keeps up his mask up determined uncaringness. Everything will be okay. Phil loves him and is only doing what's best for him.

After his bottom is very red and very sore, Phil manhandles him onto his back on the bed. Clint really doesn't want to be entered tonight. He decides to try something.  
"Phil, do you think tonight, maybe I could have a go?" Clint had a dildo and a harness that he had used on himself from time to time before he and Phil were regularly having sex. He really wanted to try penetrating Phil with it.  
Phil sighs. "Clint dear," he starts, reaching down and stroking Clint's cheek, "we've been over this. I'm the only one who can get pleasure out of doing the fucking, so why waste the chance? Either I satisfy both of us, or I'll be too tired to take care of you afterward. Please, Clint, let me give you pleasure."  
And Clint blushed. Of course, it always made so much sense when they were in the moment, so he wasn't going to argue. He reaches for the lube and starts prepping himself.  
Phil's still talking as he watches the preparation. "I love you Clint. I think of all the people out there in the world who would never be accepting of a trans person and I just want to try so hard to be that rare person for you. Because you're special to me." Phil's jerking himself as he talks, making sure he's hard enough to fuck Clint.

Clint know that what Phil talks about could very well come true. He doesn't argue anymore, just lays back and tries to enjoy it as much he can through the pain. In truth, he hasn't been able to orgasm this way in the years they'd been having sex. Normally he'd enjoy this, he just wouldn't cum. But not tonight. He slips into memory and goes back to the first time, so loving and caring.

So Clint has been finding himself living more and more in memories, and he's not sure he likes it.


	2. Finding the Present

Bruce Banner sees a lot of things that other people don't. He will admit to himself, if no one else, that he is an excellent read of people. So he knows that something is wrong with Clint today. Probably the same thing that's been bothering him all week, but it seems worse today. He frowns and goes off to see if anyone else has any information.

It's been about a year after the Avengers came together for the first time. It's ten months since Coulson was back on his feet. Ten months ago Clint got really happy that Phil was finally cleared as healthy enough that they were sure he wouldn't relapse. Nine months ago, Clint's mood started to go downhill. It was always worse when Phil was around, but not to any significant effect. Usually there were just more frowns. Well, Clint did tend to frown while thinking. He was sure he shouldn't read anything into it. Probably.

It was seven and a half months ago when Steve came to him with a question. He was given limited access to the team's medical histories, and was mainly going over surgeries they'd had. Most had been easily identifiable: Stark's heart surgery, Steve's own appendectemy, most of the Avengers had been treated for wounds at some point in time. But Steve had no idea what it meant that Clint's file had three unidentifiable surgeries. Bruce was, of course, happy to take a look and see if he knew what they were. Back from the page stared at him some very interesting words: mastectomy, then eight months later, a hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy.

Bruce smiled his most deflective, charming smile, "Yes, I recognise those. They're, ah, personal." He takes his glasses off and hands the file back to Steve. "I don't think they'll be the cause of anything problematic," he reassured him. "But if you really want to know, go ask Clint."  
Steve was mildly suspicious, but let it go easily enough. "Thank you. I think I will, then." He quietly left the room, and Bruce turned back to his tea.

Steve really didn't want to pry. He knew there were many different types of surgeries today, not all of them strictly necessary. If Dr. Bannner was okay with it, then he'd be fine. He wasn't particularly keen on embarrassing himself further, especially since Stark had said that some people got surgery to make them sterile, and Steve didn't need to know about his teams' genitals.

.........  
Bruce took his bike to a small shop tucked a few blocks away from the tower. He bought some chocolates from the couple who owned the store and headed to Natasha's apartment. Her face lit up with a smile when she saw the chocolate. He had found out several months ago that chocolate that reminded her of home was excellent in easing Black Widow-Hulk relations. She invited him in, then leaned against her counter in the kitchen waiting for him to speak.

"I'm, ah, worried about Barton." He checked for her reaction. None was forthcoming. None had been expected. "He looked like he was having an off day last Thursday, but when I saw him today, he looked terrible. Worst I've seen him in months."  
She frowned. "He and Coulson were on a mission over the weekend. I heard it went really well."  
He raised his eyebrows. Everyone (inside the team) knew Barton and Coulson were together in more ways than just handler and asset, but there was a certain amount of manoeuvering he had to do with Romanov regardless of how far they'd come.  
She smirked. "If you had a serious reason to be worried you would've gone straight to Steve or Fury. If you had a good, solid but not urgent reason to be worried you would've given me an explanation by now."   
Bruce actually blushed. He knew he'd been made and that was embarrassing. "He seems happy dating Coulson, but I reserve the right to help him the best I'm able to. It's probably even safer this way."  
Natasha seemed deep in thought for a minute. "You're right, though. Something's not right about how he's been acting lately."  
They locked eyes a moment. Thy would pursue this together, and she would open her own investigation. They shared a curt nod, and Bruce slipped out of her apartment, pretending that he didn't notice her leaving as he was barely twenty yards away on his bike.

Natasha turned left where Banner had turned right, so as not to follow him if he were headed in the same direction. She made her way to the new Avengers tower with haste. She slipped into an elevator and punched in the code to bring her to Pepper's floor. Pepper's secretary was ever-gracious in waving her by. She tried not to smile too much as she walked a bit loudly into the office. But she failed when Pepper broke into a grin when she saw who it was. Pepper was on the phone, though and held up a finger, indicating she'd be right off.

Natasha slipped inside and sat on one of the frankly luxurious couches. She played with the patterns on one of the intricate pillows Pepper loved while she waited. Pepper graciously steered the conversation to a close and hung up, sitting across from Natasha in a very fancy plush chair.  
"Tasha, what a pleasant surprise. What brings you to my neck of the woods?"  
"I need some help. Barton has seemed rather troubled lately. If I remember correctly, you can access JARVIS's surveillance of the team. Hopefully figure out if there's a problem that needs fixing."  
Pepper smiled as she reached for a glass tablet. "Of course," she said, typing away. "I will have JARVIS look for anything that could be a stressor. Shouldn't take more than an hour."  
Natasha grinned. "How's the company going? Is the board still giving you crap about your new clean energy campaign?"  
Natasha loved Pepper's laugh. "The board is a lot easier to convince than Tony ever made them out to be. I don't know how this company ever stayed afloat when he was CEO." They shared a laugh over that. They sat discussing work for a bit when JARVIS interrupted them.

Pepper went over to the tablet to take a look at what the computer had found and Natasha slipped up next to her.  
JARVIS explained, "I have five incidents from this month where decibel levels in Agent Coulson's office have indicated an argument between him and Agent Barton."  
Pepper scrolled through the dates listed on the screen. She chose the most recent and up popped the grainy security footage and slightly tinny sound.

Clint was standing in front of the desk, talking to Phil, who was sitting behind it. Neither of them looked happy. Clint leaned onto the desk. "You think I'm not trying. Give me a break, I was in Bolivia for the past two days. Did you expect me to remember to get milk literally the hour I got back from the airport?"  
Phil was very calm as he explained, "Clint, you have missions in Latin America every other week. This isn't new. The mission wasn't even very hard."  
"Says you. What if I said it were?"  
"It wasn't."  
"How do you know? You weren't even there!" Clint snaps.  
"I was watching the surveillance the entire time." Phil's lost his cool as well now.  
"What‽" Barton roars at him. "I asked you not to do that. I'm as safe as I can be. Sitwell was there. He can handle these situations just as well as you can!"  
"That's not the point, Clint! I want to make sure you're safe. Sitwell doesn't have a damn clue that you used to be a girl."  
Barton looks like he's been slapped across the face. Natasha notes Pepper's eyes widen, but she says nothing as the fight rages on.  
Coulson doesn't let up. He stands and gets up close into Barton's face as he yells. "You aren't always in a safe spot. Nevermind that you're a spy, if they catch you and find out you don't have a dick, you'll be dead!  _I_  prevent that from happening! If you want me to butt out, I will tell Sitwell, Hill, and everyone else who's ever been affiliated with SHIELD, because I can't risk you getting hurt!"  
Clint looks like he's about to cry. He sits down on the couch and curls his knees to his chest. "Please. It's okay. You can watch me. Just don't  _tell_  anyone about—" He gestures to himself.  
Coulson sits next to him, his arms wrapping around the archer. Clint flinches away, but Coulson doesn't seem to notice. "I love you, you know. I just want you safe," he says.   
Clint does cry at that. "Just don't tell anyone."  
Phil hugs him tighter, "As long as you behave, I won't have to."

Pepper looks horrified. "That's enough, JARVIS." The recording freezes. She turns to Natasha. "We need to help him. He needs to know nobody here will judge him."  
Natasha nods. "I think we need to bring the team together on this. How 'bout you talk to Stark, I'll handle Banner and Rogers."  
Pepper murmurs agreement. In the past, they would've spoken longer, had more in-depth discussion about strategy, but the two women knew each other so well by now, each could probably detail exactly the other's tactics. They hug and say goodbye, lingering just long enough to promise to follow up that evening.

Pepper finds Tony down in his workshop when she has a free moment. He's covered in grease and blasting Black Sabbath, as Tony is wont to do. It brings a sorry smile to her lips, a sense of nostalgia for simpler times, before the suits, before she has to break this news to him. She knocks and then enters, JARVIS automatically turning the music way down for her. "Thank you, JARVIS," she calls, as always. Tony looks up and then puts down the wrench, grinning.  
"Pepper! What a lovely surprise. You're looking fabulous, as always." He picks up another tool and starts tinkering again. "But, I have JARVIS tell me when to eat now, and you're CEO, so what's up?"  
Pepper good-naturedly rolls her eyes, but she doesn't have time for his games right now. "Tony, this is serious. Clint's in some trouble."   
He puts his tools down for real and reaches for a rag to wipe some grease off of himself. "This can't be Avengers trouble because otherwise you would've brought Fury or Agent down here." He disentangles himself from the unidentifiable machinery.  
"That would be impractical in this situation since Agent Coulson seems to be part of the problem."  
Tony raises his eyebrows at that, swining a finger as he walks closer to Pepper. "Now what did he do to go from 'Phil' to 'Agent Coulson'? Only the people who have pissed you off to the utmost degree get that from you."  
Pepper's eyes were cold. He was right, of course. It took a lot to earn her wrath, but it was brutal. "It has come to our attention that Agent Coulson has been acting abusively towards his partner." Clint and Phil had tried to keep it a secret, but it had understandably leaked out among the Avengers. Still, they, despite all rumours to the contrary, knew when and how to keep a secret.  
Tony's expression darkened. "What do we do? Destroy his savings? Or can I put on the suit?"  
Pepper sighed. "We'd like to converge an unofficial team meeting tomorrow to discuss options. We can't make things worse for Clint. We have to figure out a way to support him."  
"I'll be there." He doesn't even have to think about it.

Natasha was full of rage as she made her way to Steve's place. She wasn't exatly known for her self-restraint. She would like nothing more than to put their handler in the hospital. But that wouldn't solve anything. They needed to support Clint for the time-being. The only way to help him is to show him that he's accepted among them, to counteract Phil's negative messages. Then, maybe, he can start to heal. She shakes her head of these thoughts as she approaches Steve's door.

Everyone sees Steve as being from the 1940s. And, sure, he has some confusion about how things are done in the modern era. But he's also a good man, as Dr. Erskine once said. So he's immediately concerned for Clint's safety when Natasha informs him of what happened. This is exactly the type of bullying he wouldn't stand for.

Bruce is expecting something, so he's less enraged right off the bat. That doesn't mean he's not extraordinarily pissed, though. After Natasha hangs up from their conversation, Bruce goes to meditate, knowing it won't do any good to give into his green passenger. He sleeps uneasily that night, not knowing what's happening to his favourite archer.

........  
Steve calls a team meeting the next morning. Thor is still on Asgard, but he calls the rest of them together. He gives Clint a time 30 minutes after the rest of the group, and he gives Phil a time half-an-hour after that. He thanks everyone for coming and tells them that Natasha has something to discuss with them. She and Pepper had talked to them all earlier, but Natasha wanted them all on the same page, so she started from the beginning. She took them through how Clint is trans, how he's dating Phil, and how Phil has been mistreating him at best. The air is thick with tension and disapproval. Everyone takes turns talking and they agree fairly quickly on a plan for intervention. They'll start today, when Clint arrives. They don't want to see him hurt any longer.

Clint comes in looking a bit distracted, but with his game face on. He's not quite as jovial as he has been. He doesn't crack as many jokes as the team would suspect. Steve asks him if anything's wrong, but he denies it. They move on to their main task of the day. Steve starts, "It has come to our attention that one of our teammembers is transgender." Clint freezes, but he doesn't run. Not yet, though he prepares to do so." Steve continues, "We just wanted to call this team meeting to show our support for Clint. I came across this when reviewing your medical history earlier this month. I saw some surgeries you'd undergone, and I didn't recognise them. I forgot to look them up until earlier this week. Through this, we pieced together your history. I even found an old poster of the Amazing Hawkeye when he was younger. I would just like to take the time to let you know that this team has a strict policy of inclusion and that we're proud to have you with us."

Clint started to relax a little bit. He'd had terrible experiences with coming out before, and other than his doctors, the only ones who had treated him with respect were Tasha, Fury, and of course, Phil. He doesn't want to get too hopeful about the team though. He needs to be sure it's not a prank.

Tony is more serious than Clint has ever seen him. "I'm impressed. I know a lot of strong and/or powerful people in this world. I don't know if any of them have half the strength you do." He digs around in his bag and takes out a piece of paper and slides it to Clint. "As you can see, Stark Industries has had a comprehensive nondiscrimination act in place since President Clinton. Consider this a standing offer for a suitable position at SI if you ever need it. Pepper also told me to tell you that she fully supports you, whatever route you take." Clint takes the page, and sure enough, it's the SI corporate hiring practices statement, with a supportive letter from Pepper. He's shocked. He just blinks for a few moments then nods as if remembering himself. He wants to go look at this later.

He looks up as Bruce clears his throat, as if trying to gain his attention in the most unintrusive way possible. Clint allows himself to crack a small smile. They meet eyes and Bruce gives him a hopeful smile. "You're a good friend, Clint. The things I value you for aren't dependent on your gender identity. If you ever need anything, please don't hesitate to ask at any time." Clint loves Bruce's simple manner and nods. He loves the odd way Bruce tends to say things. It makes him feel, well, accepted.

He's afraid of the final part of their team. Natasha's his best friend and he can't imagine how she'll react. He's worried that she'll feel betrayed by the fact that he's kept something so big from her for so long. She lightly boffs his head. "Idiot. I've known for a long time now. It's okay. It doesn't change anything between us." Clint jumps up and hugs her. "Thanks Tasha, everyone. I don't think you understand how much this means to me."

"How much what means to you?" Clint's eyes open wide in panic for a moment at the sound of the voice, before he forces himself to calm down. He shouldn't be so jumpy around him. He hasn't done anything wrong. Has he?

Steve interrupts his trail of thought. "Agent Coulson, glad you could join us. I had just mentioned to the team how we happened to figure out that Clint is transgender and that we are proud to have him on our team." He beams as if Clint was the teammate he was proudest of. It warms his heart.

Phil smiles that smile that Clint used to think was genuine. Now it means he's in trouble. Did he forget to do their laundry. No, he was sure that he'd washed, dried, and folded it this morning before the meeting. "That's great news. I'm glad to see the team opening up to each other."

............

Clint has to wait for the meeting to be over to find out what he did wrong. Phil pulls him aside into an empty room. Phil smacks him across the face. "How could you let them find out?"

Clint is shocked. "I didn't do anything. They surprised me with the information. I didn't break my promise to you, I swear."  
"I'm not so sure. Why else would they know? Wait. You've probably been falling down on hiding it from them. How dare you make me work so hard to keep your secret when—"

Clint cowered as the door slid open to reveal a very unimpressed, mild-looking Bruce. "Excuse me. I couldn't help but overhear an inordinate amount of noise coming from this supposedly empty room. I'm glad I did, though."

Phil interrupts, trying to take back control of the situation. "This is just between me and my boyfriend, thank you very much."

"I don't care." Clint's eyes widen again as a flash of green ripples throughout Bruce. "I'm not in the mood to hear excuses, Phil. You have no excuse for hitting him."

"Tell him everything's fine," Phil snaps.  
"Every—"  
"I don't want to hear any bullshit."  
Clint looks down.  _It's not a lie. It can't be._  "It's okay."  
Bruce looks at him, open, caring. "Do you believe that, or are you afraid of what he'll do when you get home?"  
Phil is outraged. "How  _dare_  you‽"  
Clint flinches.  
Bruce ripples green again. "I suggest if you don't want to find yourself in a million little pieces, you leave us now and Clint alone forever."  
Phil is more willing to listen to the fear coursing through him. He leaves with a snarl that Clint jumps at.

Then Bruce is hugging him. Clint clings to him, grateful. He's sobbing, half out of fear, half in relief. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

Bruce holds him close, stroking his hair. "There's nothing to be sorry for. You deserve to be treated better. No matter who you are, you deserve dignity. You shouldn't be scared of what your partner is going to do to you. He shouldn't threaten you on a regular basis."

Clint doesn't say anything for a moment. Then he pulls away, and tears in his eyes, he starts telling his story, going over every last thing Phil did or said or made him do that he was uncomfortable with. That night, he sleeps soundly in one of Tony's guest bedrooms. Things aren't perfect now, but they're better. And Clint now knows he has a team he can rely on in the future. He couldn't ask for anything better.


End file.
